I've been taking St. John's Wort for about 2 1/2 weeks, in the form of Amoryn brand capsules. The Amoryn also includes 5-HTP to stimulate production of neurotransmitters. I feel some of the depression symptoms beginning to lift, and with no side effects. I'll do another post after 6 weeks, but so far so good.

My life and career have been pretty messed up by depression and the cloudy decision-making that come with it, and no medication can fix that. But at least there seems to be some progress.

I have been taking St.John's Wort for about 3 days. It has made me feel a little tired, sometimes when I don'take my dose on time my mind races, vrom-vrom. Over all more calm , no anxiety. For a few days I thought my penis had gone to sleep. It awoke. That made me happy. Over all , I give it a B+. This is the first time taking anything for my moodiness. I will check back one a week then move to monthly.

I have tried many different anti-depressants over the years. They have their pro's and con's. One con is that with prolonged use, they just stop working, or even agrivate the problems you started with. I have been taking SJW for 8 months. It helps remarkably with my anxiety. It probably helps some with depression, but just taking the edge off. I highly recommend it for anxiety. I tried going off and taking 5 HTP because of the photo-sensitivity issue with SJW. However, my anxiety returned with a vengeance. So I switched back with wonderful results.

I took St. John's Wort for a couple of winters to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder. For me, it blunted the worst of my symptoms, but did not completely treat the depression. I stopped taking it when I found out the following. You have to be off St. John's Wort for at least six weeks prior to surgery due to its interference with anesthesia. The plant St. John's Wort often contains cadmium which it tends to absorb from the soil. Cadmium is a carcinogen. Testing by an independent lab has shown varying, unsafe levels of cadmium in the capsules sold to treat depression. I quit taking the stuff immediately and decided to try an antidepressant. For me Celexa has worked far better in alleviating the depression. Also, at least they have to disclose the possible side effects unlike "natural" remedies.

Does Celexa cause weight gain? If St. John's Wort has carcinogens, think about the damage an actual drug might do. For one thing, they tax the liver and all the side effects can be worse than the depression or even make it worse.

There was a blind study on this in January 2005 according to my doctor and St. John's Wort is no better than a placebo. If you believe it works for you, that is good, but for most, it will not work fotr depression or anxiety.

for the past 3 months my doctors were prescribe me which seems like every antideppresant on the planet. I've never been one for the FDA approved B.S. medications. I've always been a multivitamin taker. But due to recent discoveries about my physiology that stems from birth and in conjunction to my transition from Northern Cali to Southern Cali...I was definiitely suffering from more than depression. But the medicines, just seem to wipe me out at times. I did some research, and that's when I same across AMoryn's website. SO what I did was told my doctor that I had stop'd the meds a month ago...and told him that I'd pepped up on the B12, B6 Vitamins as well as the St. Johns Wart w/ 5HTP.
I'm 2 days into it...I cant tell a drastic change in mood...but I do feel a lil lift in ability to get out, get up & do something. Maybe I'll stay in touch and post how I'm doing a month from now.
Mooshnick=

I have been taking St.Johns Wort for exactly 3 weeks, and I have felt calm and less stressed since about 3 days into taking it. It has helped my mood swings dramatically, and I feel like I couldn't do without it. Just ask my husband. He will tell you that it's made his life easier! I was so moody and crabby, and he never knew which "me" he was going to get! Now I feel good about myself, have the energy level to get exercise again, and take care of my home and workplace. It may not work for all, but it's been a Godsend for me.

I started taking SJW last September bc of severe anxiety/depression following a prolonged period of stress. After only 4 days, I noticed an improvement, but I continued to have panic attacks. I stayed on the SJW for 3 months and supplemented with Seredyn for calming. In December, I began to wake up in the middle of the nite with severe headaches that went from my left eye, over the top of the left side of my head and ended on the left side at the base of my head. I had a headache nearly every day for 6 weeks before I went for acupunture. Acupuncture usually zaps that type of headache. This time, it wasn't as effective as it had been in the past. I went to my medical doctor, who said the headaches could be related to an interaction between my diet and the SJW...or it could be stress. I didn't realize I would have interactions with SJW, and I also believed it would handle the stress factor. I couldn't put up with the headaches, so I stopped the SJW, gave up after years of believing in alternative therapy, and resorted to taking Lexapro. My headaches are lessening since I stopped taking the SJW. Does anyone have any wisdom concerning this? I really don't want to be on drugs, but to stop taking anything would be disastrous.

I had taken one st johns wort pill og 300mg per day for years ..I felt no difference.. However in those years it slowly accumilated and I started having depression and difficulty sleeping.. I never connected the st Johns with the depression until after I got out of it .. I started to take SJW again and after 2 weeks I was depressed again and couldnt sleep ... I then stopped and felt better again... then I tried it just to be sure for 3 days and again the bad feeling returned.. Now I realise SJW is DANGEROUS FOR ME IT MAKES ME DEPRESSED and has cost me many years of lost hapiness ans sleep.. but I am happy i found out sooner rather than later.. All of you out there becareful it may work for some people but for others SJW can be very VERY DANGEROUS AND IN FACT LEATHAL....SO BECAREFUL AND SEE HOW YOU REACT...

I have beentaking st johns wort for 10 days it seemed ok at first but it started to make me really tried and bad head aches i have really bad heart burn now and i felt sick to the pits of my stomach i even did a pregnancy test to see if that what was wrong but it wasent i carnt understand why a herbal remidie could make me feel so bad I have stop talking it because it has made me feel so ill my head still hurts and i feel sick. This might work on other people but not for me.

I took st johns for 4 months to treat depression with anxiety.It did seem to lift the depression a bit but I stopped due to the side effects.After 1 month,I became very easily aggitated and ragefully angry(not my personality at all),the other side effect was that I was unable to have orgasms.I stopped taking the st johns to see if the side effects would stop and they did, within 4 days I no longer became over the top angry,and my orgasms returned.I will not take st johns again due to these side effects.

I've tried 3 different anti depressants over the last few years. And after a really bad time coming off efexor last winter (because of high BP) I said I'd never use them again!!
However over the summer I've just sunk into a deep depression. Started taking SJW 6 days ago. Initailly I felt achey and sick, and I had a panicy day on day 3. But from then on I've felt really good!!
It's so good to find something that acts so fast!!! Will keep posting.

Has anyone ever gotten headaches, tiredness, and body aches after they stopped taking St. Johns Wort? I was taking it for about 3 months and seemed to be doing well, but I wasn't quite ready to attribute that to the pills, so when I ran out I stopped taking it. Since then, I have been dealing with dull headaches, lethargy, and neck pain...just wondering if this is a possible reaction to the lack of the herb in my system. Any responses would be greatly appreciated!

i stopped taking st johns wort herbal about four days ago because i was having fatigue, stomach upset, nausea, burning sensation around the eyes, dry mouth, headache, and nervousness, and i'm not even taking any prescribed medications. i'm still having these side effects and i wanted to know how long does it take to stop? Or should i see a doctor about it?

I tried St.John's Wort a week ago and was so paranoid to do just that as I have been off of anti-psychotics and anti-depressants for nearly four months.I stopped after two days due to extreme headaches.So much hell and problems after stopping the the prescription meds.All I know for sure based upon ten years of experience of being on paxil for seven and prozac for one,is that the chemical drugs do work but not without a mind trip and some side-effects.They do wear off though.Not recommended for teenagers unless highly supervised as I first had my experiece with them back in 1997 at age 18 and started to self-mutilate myself.Anti-psychotics are a big no-no if you plan on living a normal life.I got on them shortly after going to a mental hospital-politically incorrect term...but this was after I started prozac and started to think everyone was an enemy and took this downer pill to help me sleep.Now I am at a state of purgatory limbo where I don't know if I can survive without them or go natural or just let time heal my wounds.

I've been taking SJW for 4 weeks now. I do feel a difference and I think it will be of benefit as I work on changing my negative thoughts. I also notice that I am laughing a little more often and have moments of more energy.

What's been irritating though has been the fatigue. I decided to deal with this by taking it after work. 4pm, 6pm and 8pm. And I'm consuming much more water to deal with the dry mouth. That may be a problem filling up with water before bedtime. In any case with so much water, the drymouth is a nonissue now. In regards to people getting headaches, perhaps this bit from an article I read on the web would be helpful:

The active ingredient of St. John's Wort is hypericin. Hypericin is believed to exert a similar influence on the brain as the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors such as the one in major antidepressants. Mixing MAO inhibitors with foods high in tyramine, an amino acid, produces one of the most dramatic food-drug interactions. Symptoms, which can occur within minutes of ingesting such foods while taking an MAO inhibitor, include rapid rise in blood pressure, a severe headache, and perhaps collapse. Foods high in tyramine include aged cheese, chicken liver, Chianti (and certain other red wines), yeast extracts, bologna (and other processed meats), dried or pickled fish, legumes, soy sauce, ale, and beer.

I don't consume much of any of these except the aged cheese. But I'll do without that for now.

I did drink a beer within the first week but had no negative effects. But as in the cheese, I'll do without that as at the start there wasn't much SJW in my system.

Oh and please note. It's tyramine in foods that interacts negatively and not tyrosine. I had to dig deep to sort that one out as I have been taking tyrosine C and B complex for years to deal with panic.

Was taking 300mg a day, one in am and 2 at bedtime, I do believe it helped with my depression , but did not help with my sleep maintenance insomnia. I eased off it for summer because I heard that it made you too sunlight sensitive and I was afraid it would bother me in this area, i seem to get a sun rash every spring and I didnt want it to be more than I already tolerate, but am thinking about going back on it for my depression again any way.

St Johns Wort works great for me at first...after a long period of not taking it. I feel pretty good for almost a week but then after that I will slowly drop back into a depressive state until one day it just hits me again. Am currently in middle of third st johns wort 'trial' and am going to forget about it after this bottle runs out.

I've been taking st johns wort for 2 days now. 1 pill each morning brand Kira. I feel a bit dizzy, tired and irritable. The anxiousness is still here even though I know it can take a month to work. I have a job interview next week and am hoping it kicks in by then. Life is shit.

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I've never been depressed, but life's circumstances lately drove me into feeling down, desperate, angry, crying too frequently. Since I'm on the natural side, I started taking St John's Wort. Within a month, although my life situation didn't change (it actually became worse) I've noticed positive changes in how I feel and look at the world around me. I don't feel hopeless and helpless anymore. I do not have any side effect whatsoever. I'm taking typical recommended dosage: 300mg/3 times a day.

I'm a 30yo male that started taking St johns wort two days ago. I've been taking one pill in the morning and one before bed. The biggest impetus for taking it has been a nagging sense of fear and indecisiveness. I guess these are symptoms of depression but as far as I can tell, I've had them my entire life. It's my MO. I don't crawl into a ball and sleep all day as some people do. I just don't want to do anything and would rather stay at home. I end up talking myself out of tough decisions.

Anyways, I've experimented with Kava a few times and that made all my anxiety go away! I was talkative, cared about others, felt empathy, and truly felt normal for once. Kava is not a drug you can take all the time. It adds a bit of euphoria for me that I really shouldn't be feeling all the time. I just want to be able to make decisions without self-judging myself afterwards. I don't want to be anxious about everything. But I got sick from Kava once -- fever, headache -- I thought I had liver failure (haha) but I didn't! Anyways, no more Kava for the foreseeable future.

For me, the benefits of SJW (after two days):
1. A general content feeling
2. Self-doubt is greatly lessened
3. Anxiety about nothingness is gone

Side effects:
1. I've had quick sharp pains in the left side of my head but they've been brief and not many
2. I felt a little off balance (not exactly dizzy)
3. A bit tired
4. If I had to do a timed math test, I'm not sure I would pass. I feel as though my thoughts are a bit slower, but that's really ok because the thoughts are generally productive and not ones of pointless anxiety

St. John's Wort has worked *extremely* well for me. It really has been amazing. I'm the last person you'd find taking "herbal remedies", but this one really has worked for me. I took Prozac and it made me feel absolutely awful, even borderline psychotic. I don't doubt that it works for plenty of people, as do Zoloft and Paxil and all the others . . . no hatred for synthetic medications here. I just didn't want to do the whole "medication-hopping" thing and decided to try the wort.

It has had some side-effects. For me these have been stomach-cramps that set in about an hour after taking it and don't last long, dry-mouth, and periods of feeling "high": either a profoundly euphoric MDMA-like feeling (I swear last time it happened I was *this* close to sobbing with joy, it really was that intense), which tends to kick in two hours after dosing and lasts about three hours, and an amphetamine-type jumpy and enthusiastic feeling with sweaty palms, which tends to happen later at night and is strongly exacerbated by caffeine and nicotine. But both of these "high" feelings have just been becoming less intense and less frequent the longer I take it.

I was on many different anti-depression meds and they seemed to make my anxiety worse and caused a HUGE weight gain. So after my doctor took me off them, I decided I would never take them again. Well, after a year of being off them, I felt my mind racing constantly and a friend suggested natural remedies. I googled and found St John's Wort and Ginseng would help me best. I have been taking them for 3 days and already feel better. I take 2-3 pills a day. I do recommend both of these for people with depression, mood swings (SJW) and emotional stress (ginseng).

I have been taking St. John's Wort (the recommended Walgreens brand) for almost a month, and I feel little to no improvement on my symptoms of depression. I take two at breakfast and one at dinner, but all I've felt is maybe getting a little manic/giggly once or twice, and that faded into a deeper bout of depression than I usually feel. I still have crying spells, and I actually get less rest, my sleep becoming broken in the past week or so. Unfortunately, my parents won't do anything else for my depression, so it looks like I'm stuck until 18.

I like the effect of SJW, but nasty headaches ensue within a couple of days. I tried cutting back to 1/2 dose every other day, but still headaches continue. I have to stop I think. Too bad, cause it works for my depression pretty well.

As a working single mum also doing tech felt st
ressed so thought id give st johns wort a try.Didn't notice any difference bought a second bottle was stronger started having headaches especially at night really bad would wake me in the middle of the night also nausious,dry throat and really tired,my hands started to shake this just wasn't me especially the headaches so stoped taking st johns and all the above symptoms have dissapeared wasn't worth it for me and scarry that it caused all these symptoms. I figured must be ok if its sold at the supermarket.The only warning on the bottle was may interfear with other medications I wasn't taking anything other than multi vitamins and cough medicine.I wouldn't recommend it and would suggest if anyone is thinking of taking it, just be carefull the side effects just wern't worth it.I feel normal again and no headaches Yes

I had to stop taking SJW, It gave me migraines and sensitivity to light along with feeling anxious all of the time.I took SJW because I have RA with Fibromyalgia and the meds the Dr. prescribed for pain cause major drowsiness which I cannot afford as I own my own business.SJW has also increased my symptoms for Ra and Fibromyalgia not to mention rapid heart beat.Unfortunate because it did help with any depression I may have had,left me feeling elated and back to my old self.But the side effects just are not worth the benefit.

I was on my second day of taking SJW, sitting at the computer, and my heart began racing out of control and palpating. I felt like I was about to faint. I've never experienced anything like it before in my life, very scary. I'm 32, Male, and in good shape, excercise 4-5 days a week. I grabbed my car keys and I was about to drive myself to the hospital, I was worried about fainting so I thought about calling a friend to drive me. I decided to wait it out and the frieghtning experience went away after about 30 min. I'm going to stop taking it. I did some research and found a forum where a few others had a similiar experience as myself. It was called atrial fibulation from SJW. There are so many good reviews that I think I must of had a rare reaction or a bad batch of SJW. Here is a link to the forum http://www.sjwinfo.org/forum/showthread.php?p=100 01.

I have been taking St. Johns Wort for a week now. I sleep all the time. I am very tired and very irritable. I can not stand the dogs barking and I yell at my family all the time. I still am crying all the time and want to cur l up into a ball. I know it takes time to work; but I feel worse since I started taking it. I am more depressed but anxiety was less today.

I LOVE IT! i HAVE BEEN TAKING IT FOR 6 WEEKS AND I AM ON A HAPPY HIGH. NO TIREDNESS AND SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS LIKE ZOLOFT AND LEXAPRO. I STOPPED TAKING THOSE 5 MONTHS AGO AND THOUGHT I WOULD JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY UNTIL THIS MIRACLE. I LOVE IT. I FEEL HAPPY AND I DON'T TAKE THINGS AS HARS AS I DID BEFORE. I FEEL GREAT. NO WEIGHT GAIN EITHER...IT'S GREAT!

I would like to say to "Harrier" that the study done in January of 2005 proved that St. John's Wort was shown to be more effective than placebo. Maybe you should get a new physician, since his information seems to be pretty inaccurate.

I've been taking St johns wort for About a month now and my mood was great in the beginning but in the past couple of days I've been having anger outbursts to the point where I broke a door And called my sister a 'fucking loser' I'm never like this but all of a sudden I want to break things. In not sure if it's the St johns wort but it's very likely. Also i get badly burnt everyday even if it's overcast. It's really annoying but my mood has been somewhat better. If you get the sane anger and random hatred for people please email me on pretty_butterfly9@hotmail.com

in response to that guy from september.. yes, i am feeling sick and headachy and gross getting off of a st johns wort too... no fun. i have no idea why that is.

also.. as a general comment...
I had been taking st johns wort religiously, and in high doses. It seemed to be real good for me, real good, did me wonders.. but then all of a sudden I was going into suicidal thoughts and intense depression. from the st johns wort? i don't know! plants are awesome, but they are strong too. especially when taken in high amounts. i agree, be careful. there's pros and cons. research and know your body.

I have not been myself lately and need some help. I have 4 small children and the side effects of the anti-deppresants worry me. I was looking to see how well and how quickly this works for people with mild to moderate depression. Please help I wanna be myself again!!

I started taking SJW about 3 weeks ago, did notice a slight improvement in mood and I upped my dose and then had side effects: I would suddenly feel very tired, sometimes exhausted in the afternoon, I also had slight diarrhoea and then started having nightmares, so I stopped taking it.

I started SJW today. I took double the recommended dose: instead of 300mg three times daily, I took 600 mg three times. I am a bit concerned because I love cheese, and it's now that I'm reading that certain foods (such as cottage cheese, which I just ate) can cause a hypertensive reaction. I will monitor my feelings tonight and tomorrow, and maybe refrain from taking more SJW until all the cheese is out of my system. It's unfortunate, but I may have to give up one of my favorite foods to see if this herb will help my mood.

I tried this without much hope for succes. But it's done miracles for my confidence. I can speak with ease in public and I worry less. Yes I was restless at night at first for about a week; I woke during the night. But it's gone now and even if it wasn't it's a small price to pay.

Started 3 days ago, three times a day after coming off Citropram due to adverse side effects inc. Insomnia. Its taking a while to sleep at night and then I cant get up but the worse things are the headaches. They are excruciating and I dont think i'll continue.

I have been reading this entire blog with a wide difference of opinions and experiences. Just remember one thing, everybody's body is different and reacts differently to meds, vitamins and herbal supplements. I am a professional, but have been out of work for 2 years, now has created bad sleeping habits, lack of energy along with depression and anxiety. I had these symptoms before, but has increased since not working. Friday was 8 full weeks on SJW along with taking a variety of vitamin supplements. I began taking all of these from the suggestion of a certified Nutrienlist and I sleep better and every day when I wake, I dont want to go back to sleep or stay in bed. I feel rejuvenated with energy after a 5-8 hour sleep to do things. Overall I just feel better and YES, about 5-6 years ago I was on Paxil for about a year and didnt have this energy I have now. It could be the different vitamins I'm taking, but I just feel better. I'll admit some days, I wake up down and depressed, but the energy I have, helps get myself going to do and not sit around.

I had so high hopes for SJW after reading many positive reviews. Unfortunately - those tablets only made things worse for me. Have tried three weeks and the only effects so far is insomnia, more anxiety, having more negative thougts, nightmares and a constant burning pain in the solar plexus/chest, like I need to cry all the time. Maybe I should have tried this a couple of more weeks, but I just cannot stand this any longer.

ive just started to take sjw, ive been taking it for 2 wks now. i can honestly say it has totally improved my mood. i feel clam now, my mood seems to of leveled out, no more tears one min, anger the next then happy. im a constant calm and happy. peaceful infact. my symptoms are all pms related, and now i have none. no cramps either....wish i had of tried it years ago.

I took OTC SJW when I used to live in the USA, and I dont' think my dosage was ever high enough to feel profound effects. (it was also expensive to get a good brand). But I've been living in Germany for a year now, and I knew that doctors in Germany can prescribe SJW for mild depression. I've been taking Laif 900 mg daily for a year now, and I love it. It is the most effective SJW I've ever taken. I do suffer from headaches when I get especially stressed, but I do physical therapy, drink tons of water, take an ibuprofen, and then they go away.
I think it makes a big positive difference in my life! I feel more focused, and background anxiety about everything and nothing is much, much more manageable. I don't know if Laif is available outside of Germany, but I think either way, 900 mg really did the trick for me.

There have been more recent studies which support that St. John's wort does work just as good as antidepressants. Read the article attached. I was on Lexapro for 6 weeks and although they were working it wasn't worth the way I was feeling on them so I'm now on St. John's wort (or actually a mixture called mood balance) it's only been a week and I can't say that it's working yet but I'm going to give it more time as this is what is recommended. Best of luck to you all, I know what a burden depression can be

THIS TIME I WAS ON ST JOHNS WORT FOR 4 MONTHS, SIDE EFFECTS WERE , DIZZY AND FATIGUED, STOMACH UPSET.ANYWAY , TOOK MYSELF OFF THEM AND REPLACED WITH LIQUAD MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE AND LIQUAD IRON AND FEEL AMAZING. BETTER THAN I DID ON ST JOHNS WORT EVER.
MAGNESIUM DEFFIENCY IS A HUGE CAUSE OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION.GOOGLE IT.
IT TOOK A WEEK TO COME DOWN OFF SJW AND WAS EMOTIONAL WREK BUT AFTER 1 WEEK FEEL AMAZING. :) :) :)

I think I have had depression all my life, but didnt know what the problem was. It started when I was an adolescent and hit me quite bad when I was university.

Doctors put me on anti-depressants, but couldnt handle the side effects, and stopped. I managed to get by, by keeping busy and surpressing the feelings of depresson, which led to anxiety attacks.
This led to me avoiding and missing so many things in my life.
I have now decided to try SJW combined with exercise

Day1
....woke up feeling very low, dose of SJW, went jogging...started feeling better...head cleared up and feeling much lighter

SJW is great. It got me out of a year slump in a mtter of days. I have done all research on it and have found it to be just as good with less side effect as prescription drugs (see journal postings about blind studies on webmd and/or other sites). However rememer it does not help with bipolar disorder, and major depression. I was depressed, moody, crabby, and recently had strange thoughts of suicide and this has helped me in a matter of days. do your own research just because you ask your doctor who may not have done any research or reading up on it says oh it's as good as a placebo doesn't mean that's true.

I've been taking 2 SJW's (600 mg total) daily for two days and already notice a big difference. 1 in the morning, 1 in the evening. Don't be discouraged by reviewers that say it doesn't work... It depends on your body. I was having mod-severe depression, severe anxiety, and panic attacks every day for approx. 4 weeks. I never imagined this herb would be so effective, and I praise God for that!!! I feel much less anxious, no more panic, still some depression but much improved. Remember you have hope. If this doesn't work for you, something else will. God bless.

Our daughter has been struggling with anxiety and mild depression due to school and sports (she will be playing in college) We don't want to give her anti-depressants with harsh side effects and withdrawls and wanted to see how this has worked for others?

How long before taking St Johns wort start working for depression.O was on Rx medication but I've got to the point where I can't even get out of the house to go to the Drs for my Rx.I'm desperate&hope this works..Thank you..